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Ravenstahl said he joined Mayors for the Freedom to Marry, a movement to legalize gay marriage across the U.S. His decision follows President Barack Obama's announced support of gay marriage last month.

"Hearts change, minds change," Ravenstahl told Channel 4 Action News on Tuesday. "I have had numerous discussions with members of my staff who are gay, with friends who are gay, and as I said, hearts change, minds change, and mine has changed."

Record crowds are expected downtown this weekend at Pittsburgh Pride, the annual festival for the city's lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Channel 4 Action News reporter Jim Parsons got opinions from people who were enjoying the events on Friday afternoon.

"They're responding to public opinion, and I think with a lot of issues like this, social issues, the younger generation has a different view on things than the older generations do," said Henry Schumacher.

"I think there is a shift. I think that some states legalizing marriage has made a difference too. With more and more states getting on with that, I think it's becoming more OK at a higher level to talk about it," said Sarah Papperman.

Not everyone agrees -- like Bob Newman, of Pennsylvania Foundation For Life.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "In my mind, there was never a question, for heaven's sake. Marriage is between a man and a woman. There's no question. But this shift is horrible, it's absolutely terrible, and I don't know how we're going to get it back."

Newman was part of a crowd that gathered in Mellon Square with signs that said "Stand Up For Religious Freedom" and "Stop Obama's HHS Mandate."

Katherine Craig said elected leaders who join the push for same-sex marriage are "not strong enough to stand up and speak out the true values of Christianity and Catholicism and these values that our country was founded on."

Chris Bryan, from the Delta Foundation of Pittsburgh, which organized the Pride weekend, said she thinks public opinion is moving faster on gay marriage than any civil rights issue in U.S. history.

"It is happening very quickly. It's very exciting to see," he said. "I think we're going to see, in the next couple of years, some really exciting things happen."